image [https://i.imgur.com/7DGKb3K.png]
As Carmen looked around for a potential exit, she suddenly felt a hand grab her shoulder. She glanced over and saw Rivell frantically pointing up at the ceiling.
“That energy surge from earlier, I think it might be the cause of all this. I felt it come from the upper floors. Whatever or whoever did this might still be there.” Rivell said with a determined expression.
“The upper floors? Hmm, you can only get up there if you have a Phoenix crest or are a part of staff. I’ll have to give you access.” Cassidy replied, touching the Phoenix crest on her uniform jacket.
“Alright, well what are we waiting for? Let's go!”
Rivell was determined to help out, feeling eager to get to the bottom of this. However, despite his desire to assist them, Cassidy looked a bit concerned.
“No, I think you should stay here and help those that are injured.” She said with a cautious tone.
“But, what about-”
“I think he should come with us. We don’t know what we’re about to walk into and having someone that can heal us would be great. We need every advantage we can get right now.” Carmen interjected, prompting Rivell to give an excited smile as he nodded in agreement.
Cassidy hesitated slightly but ultimately agreed and they all began sprinting towards the steps, fighting their way through the violent madness happening around them.
image [https://i.imgur.com/d60vRFl.png]
On the eastern wing of campus, Elise was holding off a multitude of raging students. Despite her valiant efforts, none of her attacks seemed to have any real effect on them.
“Damn it, why won’t they just stay down!?” She exclaimed, now surrounded by ten of these berserk students.
Elise forced out her Core Energy and began to activate her Manifest’s ability. With a single electrified step, she bolted down the hall with lightning speed. After a few seconds she found herself inside of an empty cafeteria, losing the students completely. However, despite her newfound safety, Elise was completely exhausted after using her Manifest skill. Her legs shook and buckled with fatigue as she panted heavily.
She eventually composed herself and breathed a sigh of relief. Elise tried to think of an escape plan, but before she could even ponder a though, the wall to the cafeteria blew open.
Among the dust and debris walked a tall, heavy set student. To her surprise, his silhouette was eerily similar to that of Count Levi Cross, the man that stole Elise’s youthful innocence. The moment her eyes met with this figure, her past traumas were immediately triggered. Elise slowly backed away as an expression of fear and horror came across her face.
The student stepped forward, still shrouded by the fading dust and smoke. In response, Elise flinched and dropped her Manifest to the ground. Her legs felt like jello as she continued to back away slowly, haunted by her past experiences.
“No… Please… D-don’t hurt me.. S-stay away.” She muttered with a shaky voice.
The student didn’t heed her request as he began sprinting towards her with incredible speed. Startled by his approach, Elise lost her footing and tripped on a nearby chair. Her lack of awareness caused her ankle to twist severely, quickly shooting pain through her leg.
Elise fell onto her back as she let out a loud yelp. Once she landed on her back, the enraged student pounced on top of her. His heavy set build applied massive amounts of pressure onto Elise’s body, keeping her from moving away.
The student proceeded to grip her throat and squeeze tightly, vigorously trying to choke Elise out. His glowing, purple eyes peered angrily at her while he tried his best to take her life. Elise attempted to pull the students arms off of her, but his strength was too much for her to handle. Saliva dripped down from his mouth and onto her face as she faded away, losing every bit of oxygen left inside of her body.
When she felt her last breath leave, another student rushed over and forcefully kicked the boy across the face. The blow released his grip and sent him flying into a few nearby tables, crushing them completely under his weight.
Elise immediately took in a big breath and began to cough, trying her best to cling onto her life. As her blurred vision was restored, she looked over and saw Sebastian running to her side.
“Hey!! Are you alright!?” He yelled, lifting her head up from the ground and rubbing her back gently.
Elise responded with more wheezing and deep coughs, still gasping for air. While he tended to her, the crazed student started to push the tables off of himself. He got to his feet and roared menacingly, his rage now reaching new heights.
Sebastian glared at the student and slowly stood up while exerting his Core Energy. The amount of anger on his face was unmatched as he pointed his hand downwards, summoning forth his Manifest. A set of four playing cards materialized between his fingers and they began to glow a bright yellow hue.
The enraged student flexed his muscles further and started to dash forward, rearing his fist back to make a finishing blow. Sebastian quickly flung the cards at his opponent with a swift flick of the wrist. The cards lodged themselves into the students chest, prompting Sebastian to clench his fist tightly.
Without a single hesitation, the cards exploded in spectacular fashion, causing the floor to rumble and shake from the impact. Once the smoke cleared, all that remained of the student was his meaty torso falling to its knees. Blood spilled across the floor like a crimson river, snaking around nearby chairs. The scene was absolutely gruesome and yet, Sebastian was unfazed by what he had done.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Elise’s eyes went wide as she witnessed what had just happened, feeling disgusted and light headed.
‘H-he just killed him!?’
She was absolutely dumbfounded by Sebastian’s brutal actions.
“Come on, Elise. We need to get out of here.” He said as he walked over, not even acknowledging the bloody mess he left behind.
He reached down and grabbed her hand, but to his surprise, Elise snatched it away. She slowly scooted back as though she wanted to get away from him.
“What? What’s the matter?” He softly asked with a curious expression, wondering why she was acting so strange.
“How can you be so calm when you just killed someone!?”
Sebastian turned his head towards the bleeding torso and back to Elise, letting out a big sigh in the process.
“That’s not important right now. We’ve gotta go!” He replied, hearing more enraged students approaching the cafeteria from outside.
“What do you mean it’s not important!?! That student didn’t have to-”
“Elise! If I didn’t do that, you’d be dead right now! I’m sorry, but not everyone can be saved. Now please, we’ve got to go!”
Elise was taken aback by his sudden outburst, however she had no rebuttal to give against his reply. Sebastian held his hand out to her, hoping she would accept it quickly. Elise looked at his hand and after pondering a brief thought, she reluctantly took hold of it.
Sebastian helped her stand, but once they started walking, Elise stumbled and grimaced from the pain radiating out of her ankle. Sebastian glanced over and saw how swollen and irritated it had already become. As he tried to think of a solution, a rush of berserk students raced into the cafeteria.
He quickly grabbed Elise and lifted her up, bridal style. Sebastian held her close to his body and started sprinting in the opposite direction.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got you! I’ll get you someplace safe, I promise!” He said with great determination.
Despite her fears from earlier, Elise felt incredibly safe at this moment.
‘Why do I always feel like this around this guy?’
Even though he was gripping her tightly, all she felt was comfort. Eventually, Elise gently wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight.
Sebastian raced down the hallways, making turn after turn to hopefully lose the enraged students chasing after them. However, despite his efforts, the horde grew to over fifty students running closely behind him. They roared and gnashed their teeth, having absolutely no regard for anything in their path.
Thankfully, in the distance, Sebastian could see other students fleeing into an open door that led to the eastern battle arena. Lady Ravala was giving out commands and directing people, keeping things somewhat organized despite the situation. With her was Tiaran and a few of the top ranked students at LaVeda providing support.
“Rosemarie and Bridgette, help fortify the rear of the building. Make sure that not a single one of these cretins gets to the remaining students! Scarlet, go and assist Ashton with the left wing. Tiaran, help me tend to the injured students inside.” Lady Ravala barked, pointing in multiple directions as she assigned roles.
“No, you all go inside. I’ll push them back and keep them from entering.” Tiaran replied with a determined cadence.
“What!? Are you sure about that??”
Lady Ravala’s face was filled with great concern as she didn’t understand why Tiaran would throw herself into the fray like that.
“Yes, now go!” Tiaran exclaimed, uncharacteristically raising her voice for all to hear.
Lady Ravala nodded and motioned for the remaining students to hurry inside. Elise and Sebastian quickly entered just as the door closed shut.
Tiaran turned around and slowly began walking forward. With each step she took, Tiaran exerted an immense amount of Core Energy. Suddenly, her arms started to glow with a dark purple hue, illuminating the walls around her as Tiaran’s Manifest, Null & Void, materialized itself.
The thin, dark purple and black, sleeve gauntlets enveloped both of her arms. Their material made it seem as though her arms had been replaced by new, metallic versions of themselves. As she prepared to activate her Manifest’s special ability, purple runic symbols began racing along her forearms and chest.
Tiaran slowly exhaled and closed her eyes, feeling the surge of Core Energy coursing through her body. With her preparations complete, Tiaran’s Manifest began removing all of her physical limitations, allowing Tiaran to fight with every bit of potential she had. As she continued to step forward, a dark purple aura danced around her in a violent fashion.
The sound of enraged students got louder and louder as they quickly approached Tiaran’s location. Moments later, she opened her eyes and pulled her fist back in dramatic fashion. With a single, swift motion, Tiaran punched the air in front of her. The attack caused the surrounding walls and windows to shatter and collapse from the incredible force. Everything between her and the approaching students was completely obliterated, the blow barreling towards them with unending power. Once it connected with them, the students went flying in all directions.
Wasting no time, Tiaran dashed forward with impossible speed, her forward momentum crushing the very floor beneath her feet. Within a few short seconds, she was at the center of the horde, face to face with over a hundred students. One by one, Tiaran chopped each student in the backs of their necks, each forceful and precise hit knocking them completely unconscious.
Her speed and control was otherworldly as she masterfully navigated around their bodies, not wasting a single swift movement. The terrain around her shook and rumbled after each blow, echoing through the destroyed hallways with multiple thunderous booms. Those inside of the arena trembled as they stared at the door, feeling all of the earth shattering movements occurring outside.
Sebastian found a clear area near the back half of the room and put Elise on the ground gently. He knelt down and examined her ankle, making sure not to aggravate it any further.
“I need to find you some ice before it swells even more.” He said as he let go of her foot.
Just as he began to walk away, Elise grabbed his pants leg. Sebastian looked down with a confused expression.
“Why do you keep helping me? This is the third time you’ve come to my aid…” She softly asked with a somewhat embarrassed look on her face.
Taken aback by her question, he took a brief moment to ponder a response.
“I don’t know, do I really need a reason?”
Sebastian gave her a charming smile as she let go, allowing him to keep walking. Elise gripped her chest as she felt something welling up inside of her, a flutter she had never experienced before. When she exhaled and composed herself, the violent uproar outside of the arena started to fade.
Tiaran was almost finished dispatching the remaining students, quickening her pace as though she were in a rush. Once she knocked out the final student, Tiaran noticed someone slowly approaching from down the hall. She squinted her eyes to get a better look, but the moment she blinked, the figure was gone.
Suddenly, a fist barreled towards her face, barely scraping the side of her cheek as she dodged out of the way. Once Tiaran created enough distance between them, she finally got a glimpse of her new foe.
‘Castell Pruitt?? Why is a the student body President affected by this too?’
Confusion crossed her face as she tried to process what she was seeing. Unfortunately, her moment to ponder was short lived as Castell was quickly back on the offensive. He raced towards her before disappearing and reappearing in her blind spot. Tiaran quickly blocked his attack with her otherworldly speed, not phased one bit by his rather confusing movement. However, before Tiaran could retaliate with her own strength, a tremendous pain shot throughout her entire body.
‘Agh, has it been fifteen minutes already?’
She stumbled back and grimaced from the pain, blood now streaking down from the corner of her mouth. Within a few moments, her enormous amount of Core Energy began to fade away and her Manifest dissipated from her arms.
Tiaran dropped to one knee and clutched her chest tightly as she coughed up blood. She looked up and glared at Castell with an irritated gaze, feeling beyond annoyed that her Manifest’s cost was triggering at such a terrible moment. Tiaran tried to stand, but the weakness in her legs caused her to collapse.
“Damn this Manifest…” She muttered as she turned her attention towards the arena door and back towards Castell, who was now slowly coming her way.
Tiaran mustered up what little strength she had left and was finally able to stand. She assumed a simple fighting stance with her fists up and her legs firmly planted. Tiaran was prepared to protect this place, even if it cost her her life.